All cancer patients suffering from Lymphoma are treated by either chemotherapy or chemotherapy combined with radiation therapy. Chemotherapy for lymphoma has proved to be quite effective. But depending upon the drugs that have been administered, the patients show certain side effects. Non-hodgkin or hodgkin lymphoma chemotherapy side effects vary as per the drugs, the dosage of the drugs, the treatment, as well as from person to person. Out of the different drugs available for chemotherapy, doctors use different combinations to treat each individual in the best possible way.Chemotherapy treatment is given in cycles. Each chemotherapy drug might give different side effects to the patient. Patients who are administered high dosage might show severe side effects. Chemotherapy combined with radiation might also intensify the side effects to a great extent. Patients suffering from lymphoma and being treated through chemotherapy might show serious, common as well as long term side effects of chemotherapy.

Common side effects

The most common side effects of lymphoma chemotherapy are nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. Although medical assistance is provided by the doctors to avoid these side effects but the patients also suffer from loss of appetite. This further leads to weight loss and lack of energy. Patients feel tired and exhausted. Apart from this lymphoma, patients, like all the other cancer patients, experience hair loss or thinning of hair and also depression. These common side effects are temporary. They disappear once the treatment in over. In some cases, patients do not show these side effects for several days even during the treatment.

Blood Related Side Effects

Chemotherapy might lead to serious blood related disorders or side effects during the treatment. The red blood cells might drastically drop leading to anemia in a lot of lymphoma patients. Apart from this, patients also experience abnormal clotting of blood. Chemotherapy might also reduce the white blood cells in the body which leads to infections and loss of immunity. These side effects fade off as soon as the treatment is completed.

Other Side Effects

These side effects are not very common among lymphoma patients but might cause serious damage. A patient might experience serious damage in the liver as a side effect of lymphoma chemotherapy. The drugs used to treat lymphoma could also damage the kidneys. There is a possibility of developing an allergy while undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma. These allergic reactions could be mild or severe and might also be life threatening.

Long Term Side Effects

Although most of the side effects arising from chemotherapy are short term and end once the treatment is over, but some side effects take quite some time to be cured. In some cases, it might persist for months after the treatment is over and in some rare cases it might completely damage a particular organ in the human body. The most serious among them is the risk of developing secondary cancer. Some patients might also face the problem of infertility. Apart from this, there are chances of developing osteoporosis. The chemotherapy drugs used in some cases might lead to the risk of heart disease as well as an increased risk of heart failure. The feeling of fatigue and pain also lingers for quite some time even after the treatment ends.

One needs to be aware of all the possible side effects of chemotherapy treatment in order to know the risk involved in the treatment. But it is not necessary that you may face all of the problems or even any of them. The drugs used in today’s times are a bit advanced and therefore they come with very few side effects to effectively cure the cancer giving the least amount of risk.